Flames Alive and Dead

China is attempting to keep the Olympic flame alive in its trek around the world. In France, the flame was extinguished by protesters five times along the route through Paris. The beleaguered torch was finally put on a bus for the final leg of its trip, while in San Francisco the route was shortened when things turned ugly. London was no better, nor does it appear the rest of this usually peaceful trip will be different. It would appear that the Himalayas going up in flames has had the decided effect of trying to put this symbol of peace out.

Have you noticed the blue-uniformed men in a phalanx surrounding the torch? Their official name is the "29th Olympic Games Torch Relay Flame Protection Unit." Turns out these are top cops from China chosen from The People's Armed Police. The job requirements? According to the state run China News Service, these guys had "to be tall, handsome, mighty, in exceptional physical condition similar to that of professional athletes." Training included "daily mountain runs of at least six miles and lessons in protocol. They also learned basic commands in English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese."

Apparently, commands are the only words they learned in these languages, and these elite troops have been described by the Olympic organizers as thugs and robotic. In their defense, the reception in the various countries may have exceeded their expectations and training and thus put them at a strategic disadvantage--especially when they speak only Chinese.

Ironically, as this Olympic flame makes its way on a tortuous path around the world, the Chinese have ordered other national flames extinguished before the games. On May 1st, a ban on smoking will go into effect for most public places in Beijing, which will then join 150 already smoke-free cities in this previously smoke-filled nation. What's more, on May 31st smoking will be banned at all schools--kindergarten through high school. China is the home to a third of the world's smokers at 350 million, who consume 2 trillion cigarettes a year. That's a lot of inhaling.

Speaking of inhaling--one morning as I was inhaling my daily ration of oats, I had a novel, potentially enlightening idea that could foster a feeling of unity that is woefully lacking in the world today. To wit: if everyone on Earth lived in one Time Zone, the feeling of being separated might disappear. Time is an artificial, separating construct anyway, so why not? Greenwich could be the official time--so, if it was 5:00 there, it would be 5:00 everywhere. Military time would work even better.

OK, I can hear you say, "But, but, but that wouldn't work." Well, play with it, and you might find that it actually could. If nothing else, think of it like an exercise in jumping way out of the box or stepping into a future that hasn't happened. Stay tuned, because in the next few blogs, other ideas will be put forth that could prove to be as revolutionary.


Of Note: Marie spotted this en-flamed sky at her house one March evening and beautifully captured the essence of burning. The photo symbolizes China's schizophrenic problems at the moment with fire.

Today's Weather Report: Lower forties and cloudy, but not nearly as oppressive as yesterday for some unknown reason. One day of sun would do in the rest of the lingering snow. We can only hope!

TIME Off-Kilter

TIME was trying to create waves apparently with its choice of Person of the Year, Vladimir Putin. The managing editor is quoted as saying, "I made up my mind about President Putin a few months ago. . . " I guess that means that their polling website has no meaning because it did not have Putin on the radar. Therefore, the new approach in polling the masses that I thought was enlightened change has been downgraded to meaningless and merely a marketing ploy. OK, I AM only a beginning Observer-in-training; so these kind of missteps are to be expected. I'll be the first to admit it.

The first runner up was Al Gore so TIME's editorial board did not dismiss the polls completely. In an interview regarding the matter, Gore made a statement with universal significance even if one does not believe that humans are contributing to global warming: "I do genuinely believe that the political system is not linear. When it reaches a tipping point fashioned by a critical mass of opinion, the slow pace of change we're into will no longer be the norm. I see lots of signs every day that we're moving closer and closer to the tipping point" (TIME, 12-31-07, p. 98.) Couldn't have said it better myself (see the sidebar about the reason for this blog.)

And what about the Burmese monks? Well, they didn't make the cut, although they were featured in TIME's Best Pictures of the Year at page 135, along with a quote of the Buddhist mantra chanted as they protested: "Let everyone be free from harm. Let everyone be free from anger. Let everyone be free from hardship." I would like to give them a Teddy Award, myself. Joe Klein, a columnist in TIME, gives an annual Teddy award, honoring bravery and for those striving valiantly. While Klein gave his award to several politicians and bureaucrats who will be forgotten in short order, I would give it to these men and women of Burma who gave the words "daring greatly" new meaning. The following quote written by Teddy Roosevelt over 100 years ago speaks as if from the grave to these courageous monks: "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again. . .who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly."

Moving on, would it surprise you as it did me that some of life's bigger questions were also search engine staples? Three of the top hits on Google in 2007 by category were: Who is. . .God; What is. . .Love; and How to. . .Kiss. Although the other categories about Google news (American Idol show); Movies (Transformers) and Campaign (Ron Paul) were more predictable and mundane, the questions of who is God and what is love could potentially show a movement toward more enlightened discourse. How to kiss seems to fall in with the other two, although one would have to use their abstract reasoning capacities as to how.

The AIG company is currently running a series of ads both on television and in print that tout the power of the positive adding years to one's life. They are uplifting and sometimes quite informative. Take this one, for example, entitled "How to pick a puppy that's right for you"--"Here's a test you can perform when you first meet the puppy. Gently roll him over onto his back. Hold him there with one hand on his chest for a full 30 seconds. A normal puppy will resist you at first but then accept it. A dominant dog will struggle the entire time. A submissive puppy won't resist and might lick your hand. An independent dog will resist and avoid eye contact. That determines how the puppy accepts the stress when socially and/or physically dominated." It concludes by saying: "Pets can add 7 years to your life." My question, if that's the case for pets, might it not be the same for a human partner? We should give it a try. If anyone does, let me know, and we will post the results.

Speaking of ads, Hyundai, the Korean car manufacturer, is running a multiple paged ad on change entitled "Think About It" that I found quite enlightening. It begins: "Thinking begets ideas. Ideas beget change. Change begets human rights. And longer lasting light bulbs. And donut holes. You don't have to cure cancer to change the world. And besides, there's more than one world that needs changing. So change something. Anything. It's all good." It then goes on for several more pages encouraging the reader to make the changes necessary to move evolution onward and upward: "Change doesn't just happen. And you're not going to find it in the hall closet. You've got to fly 230,000 miles into space in a steel tube for it. You've got to scribble on a chalkboard for 50 years for it. Sometimes, you even have to go to jail for it."

Since it's Christmas Eve, I thought it timely to speak about Bethlehem, which is surprisingly governed by Palestinians, and the wall going up around it. The Israelis, who are putting up the wall, do not distinguish between Christians and Muslims living there. All are treated as a suspect Palestinian, and the wall solution is the only one the Israelis find viable. TIME (p.13) quoted a Christian university student, who must travel through the wall and checkpoints daily: "Jesus Christ wouldn't be able to leave Bethlehem today unless he showed a magnetic ID card, a permit and his thumbprint." We look for enlightened change in this volatile area in the coming year by joining with others in meditation and prayer. Jesus Christ will join as well, I'm sure.

And finally, a quote from the late Tammy Faye Baker Messner will lead us into Christmas: "I refuse to label. . .We're all just people made out of the same old dirt, and God didn't make any junk" (p. 172.) Hear, hear, Tammy! I bet with what she went through, she knew the true meaning of Christmas and the message of love brought to us by that babe in Bethlehem. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

Today in TIME

TIME magazine in general is rather an unenlightened source for blog material. It is good reading for other reasons, like keeping up with aspects of the news I don't garner in other places, but it does not tend to highlight those movements that are changing the world for the better.

Having said that, one noted feature this past month has been TIME.com/POY. No, that is not a new ethnic recipe, but rather our chance to vote on the Person of the Year via online poll. Each week for the last several weeks TIME has devoted a page to various famous nominators and their nominees and then invited us to vote as well--that is inclusive and enlightened and I applaud them. Examples of the famous nominating the famous include:
1-Hugh Hefner, you know him, for Steven Jobs, you know him too.
2-Lisa Randall, an non-famous scientist, for Dick Cheney, for cynical--not enlightened--reasons.
3-Nora Roberts, the author of romance novels, for Hillary Clinton, the infamous Senator from NY.
4-George Allen, a former Senator, for General David Petraeus of Iraq fame.
5-John Irving, the author, for Al Gore, the Nobel Laureate and Oscar award winner
6-Lance Armstrong, the athlete, for the Voters of Texas, who approved $ for cancer research
7-Betty Ford, one Republican First Lady, for Laura Bush, another Republican First Lady.
8-Steven Chen, YouTube Founder, for the Burmese Buddhist Monks.

My vote went to the Buddhist Monks of Burma for demonstrating lighted change while also courageously putting their lives on the line for freedom. Mr Chen eloquently stated: "The Burmese Buddhist monks demonstrated on a global scale their humble, peaceful protests for a set of inalienable, basic human rights that no government can revoke or suppress." It might be an equally courageous act for TIME magazine to name these intrepid souls Persons of the Year, a designation that could have far-reaching ramifications to these men and women who are now either in prison or hiding. Aesop said it is easy to be brave from a safe distance. These monks did not have that option.

But who will be the TIME Person of the Year? My guess is Al Gore because of his "MO" (pronounced mow) which has been explained to me as unstoppable political movement. It seems that this is Al Gore's time, and so far he is making the most of it. John Irving says of his nominee: "Gore has devoted himself to bringing awareness to environmental issues that endanger the planet, namely global warming." Stay tuned because the winner will be announced on NBC's Today show this Wednesday, December 19th.

TIME had two other lighted tidbits worth mentioning: first, The New York Philharmonic will be making a cultural trek to North Korea by invitation of Kim Jung Il. The orchestra has received flack for this move from the WSJ editorial page a few weeks back, but I would beg to differ. Apparently, we have a chance for a small opening with North Korea and what better way than music to begin to bridge the gap. Music can have magical properties; so, we will see what unfolds during and following the tour.

Second, Harvard has announced more free tuition and much improved financial aid packages for lower, middle and upper middle income students. The motive behind this is a bloated endowment fund and possible Congressional involvement. However, it is enlightened change to educate a larger and more socio-economically diverse student base than to build larger and more fancy buildings as others have done (e.g. Princeton.) Says Harvard's President, Drew Faust, "Education is the engine that makes American democracy work. And it has to work, and that means people have to have access." While not the most pithy statement ever recorded, we do get the point. TIME and other printed sources have noted that Harvard could start a trend in higher education toward more free or greatly reduced tuition. Stay tuned.

And finally, globalization is shrinking the world, that is nothing new. What is an enlightened change is that more and more people are having to brush-up on or in many cases learn world-wide geography, many for the first time. The WSJ in their Weekend Travel section today (12-15/16-07, p. W1) highlighted an online quiz game on locations and landmarks that is winning millions of fans the world over: "One of the most popular video-games on the internet right now is about as low-tech as a high-school social studies quiz. The free game, Traveler IQ Challenge, has become an unlikely hit by getting players to locate Kinshasa, Moscow and other cities and attractions by clicking on a crude, two-dimensional map, and scoring them based on the speed and accuracy of their responses." The article goes on to say: "Issues like climate change, globalization and the war in Iraq are encouraging interest in far flung places. . .Ambrose Briese said after World War I that 'War is God's way of teaching Americans geography.' " On a troubling note it says that the public "has a long way to go before. . .improving its grasp of geography. A survey from early last year sponsored by the National Geographic Society found that only half of young American adults, ages 18 to 24, could locate New York City on a map. Six out of 10 could not find Iraq on a map of the Middle East." If you want to try Traveler IQ Challenge, you will have to Google it because the website address was not listed in the article, go figure (maybe that's a test to see how well you can navigate the world wide web, which has many similarities to learning geography.)